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i heard ellis is another republican and a trump supporter, is that true? i don't know, just asking for clarification, hope not.

and yeah yeah yeah, i know, this is a non-partisan election. but as i've said before, our election may technically be non-partisan but PEOPLE (aka, voters) are not. local republicans don't like to hear it, but i know many voters here who intend to hold trump supporters/enablers accountable for actions of the administration. that might not be "fair", but it's reality.

Campaigns are protracted job interviews. The public gets to hire who they want.

If someone shows up with typos in their resume, does that make the interviewer more or less likely to hire him/her?

If a Republican/Democrat is interviewed by a member affiliated with the opposing party, even if the job is unrelated to politics, does that make him/her more or less likely to be hired?

If someone submits a professional, typewritten resume and someone else hands in a sheet of looseleaf paper written with crayon, does that make him/her more or less likely to be hired?

These are not aimed at particular candidates, just meant to illustrate that, as "me" says, voters are PEOPLE, not automatons. Individuals make their own assessments based upon subjective criteria.

In the toxic backdrop of the incompetent vicious Republican president (Trump), and a Republican congress (Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell) that tried their damnedest to kill Americans by robbing MILLIONS of their healthcare, it is not an impossible thought that good people are so repulsed, it gets carried into the voting booth in LOCAL elections.

1. I read the composition of Jen's Council-at-large slate, including this pick, as a clear indication that there are many who are not willing to join her on what continues to feel like a kamikaze mission to sink Reform born more than anything else out of frustration with Dawn and her approach to team building, as opposed to a difference in reform values and overall policy goals. Other than Aibel, the other two people are really unknown and have little to no track record doing anything in town. Jen announced this on a Friday afternoon, again another indicator that this is not an exciting slate or a serious effort.

2. About Ellis, I have heard that he is a Republican and a Trump supporter. I have no issue with anyone being a Republican and I fact agree with Republicans on many issues -- especially local issues! As Mike Bloomberg correctly said, there is not a Republican way or a Democratic way to take out the garbage. Trump on the other hand is a threat to our democracy and the American approach to government.

3. This leads me to the sad story of Kurt Garinder. Word is that Jen rejected him. Kurt styles himself as a progressive type Democrat, and it looks like Jen rejected him for a Trump supporter. Poor Kurt has her genuflected to Jen in every way possible publicly, even replacing in God We Trust with in Jen We Trust on social media. This week on Facebook he went even so far as to launch an unsupported attack on fellow Reformer Ravi based on a Roman post that intentionally took Ravi's words out of context. I saw all of Kurt's pictures campaigning with Ravi's wife in June during committee elections. They obviously are neighbors. How awkward and sad. Kurt's critiques don't really seem values and overall policy-based. There's a disagreement on a PILOT vote where Peter landed in the same place. That's one vote over 8 years on which reasonable Reform minds could disagree, and in fact did. The whole issue feels like a desperate attempt to create a rationale for Kurt's desire to run and his over the top genuflection to Jen. Sadly she still rejected him, and apparently for a Trumper with no record. 4. While Roman and Kurt join forces to shoot at Reformers, as GA's latest post points out, there is real distance between DeFusco and Aibel and GA in terms of voting patterns that reflect values in terms of the direction of this town. GA also points out that while she and Aibel sometimes disagreed on individual votes, there was no substantive values disagreement. Reasonable, values aligned minds sometimes disagree. I also saw that Romano had a very well-attended announcement of his first slate mate with lots of Hobokenites and politicos in attendance. This is consistent with polling that shows his name recognition to be very high. 5. Point 4 is the heart of the problem. Roman, Kurt and some others are shooting hard at Reform. They should be going after our opponents. The ones with different values. As I keep asking where are the sane voices in the room who will lead us away from years of war and losing elections again? Fighting over Dawn's leadership and team building approach is not a rationale for going back to the dark days. Romano and DeFusco are having a ball while we shoot at each other.

very well said, AH. ego is a very difficult thing to overcome sometimes, and what makes this all the more painful is i think jen has done a good job on the council and is a good person overall. in the real world, however, we sometimes have to chose between two good options.

i like kurt a lot and hope he comes around to reality. i know that's not easy to do once you've planted your flag with one group but it's the right thing to do for the good of reform and hoboken. sadly, it's becoming clear that roman, on the other hand, is a lost soul and increasingly a lost cause at this point. rationality seems to have gone out the window at the barn, he'll just end up incoherently doubling down on anti-ravi conspiracies and other faux-"resistance" fantasy. poor guy.

I've received further word that Mr. Ellis is a big Trump supporter. What is the matter with Jen? More importantly, and I know I keep raising this point, but Tiffanie?! Are you really as Dem Chair going to fight for the election of a Republican and a Trumper while you're the Democratic Party Chair in town? Unlike Reform, let's note that the Democratic Party in town has rules and by-laws to govern how it works. As per party rules, I would like to see her out in principle sooner than the next Committee elections. This is completely out of hand and makes a mockery out the Dem Party in town. She really should do the right thing and choose one or the other instead of clinging to power.

I'd also note that it does not seem like she has the time to be an effective Party Chair. Her social media posts seem focused on supporting Jen's ticket not her responsibilities as Party Chair.Now is the time to push back locally against the threat that Trump poses to American democracy, not support silent Jen and a Trump supporter.

You love to kill republicans but please dont forget that Romano, Russo, Defusco, Cammarano, and ALL the 44 politicians arrested on corruption charges in 2009 were DEMOCRATS. The hudson county pols that have been feeding at the public trough for decades were and are DEMOCRATS. It doesnt matter what you think of Trump (I find him disgusting) democrats are the reason hudson county is so corrupt, and to say anything different is simply ignoring the facts!

Me? You're preaching to the choir. I've been writing about Hoboken political corruption for 7 years on this blog. There is nothing about keeping faith to Democratic governing principles in the persons you have named. Corruption has no political party- the Trump administration will go down in history as the most corrupt, in my opinion. Your argument is a straw man. It is the policies of the Trump administration that are the issue, and the support and/or silence of local Republicans to take a moral stand against them.